


Call of the Sea

by Marantis



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/F, Meet-Cute, Mermaid!Naminé, Near Drowning, Photographer!Xion, kinda modern au, saving someone from drowning totally counts right?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-15
Updated: 2019-11-13
Packaged: 2020-10-19 09:47:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,930
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20655188
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Marantis/pseuds/Marantis
Summary: Xion is on the hunt for the photo of a rare fish, she does not anticipate what she actually catches sight of in her lense.





	1. A Bubbly Meeting

**Author's Note:**

> Soooo I originally wrote this in april, and then decided I wanted to post this for mermay...  
As you can clearly see, that didn't happen, because I wasn't quite happy with the flow of the story, so I held of on posting it, for a while. Don't know what actually got my ass up today to go back and rewrite this. Mostly I just cut it short honestly, sooo possibly I might add something later.  
Warnings for a near drowning again, don't want anyone getting surprised and negatively effected by that.  
Thanks again to Malte who did read through the first version and offered his opinion, however as I added some bits in the end that he was not privy to there could be some glaring errors that are absolutely on me.  
Please enjoy!

Bubbles floated up from her mouth, glittering on their way up to the surface. They disturbed the small fish Xion had been taking photos of. She cursed silently as the fish took off and shrunk down to a tiny splotch of colour, before blending in with the surrounding coral.

It had taken her half an age to find that particular one! They were becoming increasingly rarer around these parts, which was the reason why she had been commissioned to take photos of them in the first place, so the local newspaper could write a tear jerking article about the extinction of species that didn’t even stop before their wonderful little island paradise.

Xion had grown up in a small town, but had moved to the archipelago of Destiny Islands, once she had finished her education, to follow her aspirations of becoming a marine photographer. Even as a child she had always been fascinated by the ocean and all the life that lurked beneath its waves. She had chosen her profession because it allowed her to explore those hidden depths freely.

Well mostly freely, right now she was on a mission to get good shots of the Duskfallfish, named for its vibrant colour that changed hues depending on the way light reflected off of it, shimmering in a deep red one moment, dusty pink the other and if you blinked again bearing a coat of golden scales. This made it necessary to get a wide variety of photos, showing off all the different shades. But before she could do that she had to find one again.

She pushed herself back with a flick of her flippers, careful not to get to close to the delicate coral reef formation. The reef was one of Xions favourite things about the islands. It stretched between most of them connecting them like a colourful tapestry. One could see it from the air as the water was crystal clear, varying from turquois to the blue of flawless diamonds. But what fascinated her most about the waters around Destiny Islands was that they could, at the flip of a coin, turn from picture perfect clarity to dark-grey murky waters. The gentle lull of waves replaced by howling tides, when a storm rolled over the islands, leaving behind a path of disarray and still the next day when you went into the water again not a thing was out of place the reef as indifferent to the forces wrecking the surface as the winds were merciless in their destruction.

Right now the sea lay serene. Xion wouldn’t dare to venture out on a photo hunt otherwise. All too easy would it be for her to become the plaything of the ocean, hurled against sharp edges of coral and stone alike and be flayed alive. Xion shuddered at the thought, even though the water around her was pleasantly warm.

She drifted lazily around the underwater forest, keeping her eyes peeled for the tell-tale shine of brightly coloured scales. Here and now she snapped pictures of a school of fish or caught a tail nestling into an anemone on film. She could use those pictures for her own collection, maybe even sell some of those as prints.

The reef began pretty close to the shallows of the shore but the further out you got the deeper it dipped down. Between most islands you could still see the bottom, but in some locations the ocean ground dipped down sharply, creating a trench so deep that it lost itself in dark blue.

It was dangerous to dive down there, as the walls stood dangerously close in some places making it easy to cut yourself or your equipment. Still Xion let herself float towards the depths. While the Duskfallfish was most beautiful when illuminated by light, the information, she’d read before coming out to the shore today, mentioned that it liked to seek shelter in vertical formations, so she would try her luck there. 

She knew of the risk and would be careful not to get herself stuck between narrow walls, Xion reasoned. After all it was hardly her first dive. So she gently treaded water and descended into the trench. She had chosen a spot with a good twenty metres between walls. Camera at the ready hanging from a strap around her neck, she let her eyes drift across the myriad of multi-coloured corals. Some were shaped like trees or little flowers others resembling boulders of stone but still, Xion reminded herself, all this surrounding her was a living organism. It always awed her how brimming with life the ocean was.

Movement to her left caught her eye, but it turned out to be a plastic bag caught on the edge of a coral. Face drawn into an angry frown, she changed course and headed for the garbage. When she reached out to make a grab for it the bag danced out of the way of her fingers moved by the current created by her. Once she finally got hold of it she gave a gentle experimental tug, but the bag stuck fast. Xion didn’t want to use too much force, as that could pose a danger for the coral the thing was stuck to. So instead she batted the offending piece of plastic out of the way to get a look at the place where it was caught on. It had gotten itself entangled between several bits of coral and every time Xion tried to ease it out the material slipped through her fingers.

She struggled with it for a while. Digging her fingers between corals and trying to not float away at the same time proved quite tricky. The current certainly wasn’t helping. Finally though, she was able to pry the garbage loose. She held the bag aloft in victory for a second, before opening one of the pouches attached to her diving belt and stuffing the plastic bag inside to dispose of it later once she was out of the water.

Xion turned around again and jolted in shock, back scraping against the sharp corals she had been so carefully avoiding up until now. Before her floated a face, the skin a deathly pallor and long blonde hair wafting like a halo around it. Only after a moment of horrified staring did she notice that it wasn’t the body of an unfortunate drowned soul starring at her, but that the pale blue eyes gleamed with a lively curiosity as they regarded her.

However as soon as she let her eyes wander a bit she got a second shock. The lack of diving gear that Xion hadn’t had the time to even contemplate was overshadowed by the realisation that such aid wasn’t needed. There were to rows of fluttering slits at the side of the girls neck and surely enough following the line of her body the pale skin was smattered with speckles of bright almost translucent scales, which culminated at her midriff from which sprouted a long muscular fishtail that ended in a delicate fin like that of a betta fish. The whole length of it was covered in scales that shimmered like the inside of a seashell. Xion didn’t think she had ever seen something of similar beauty before. Even this far from the surface the light reflecting of the scales bathed the surrounding water in a multi-coloured glow, flickering with the girls slightest movement like a flame nudged by a breeze. Maybe the scales were actually luminescent of their own, Xion mused.

She didn’t know how long she stared at what could only be described as a mermaid, as unbelievable as that sounded even inside her own head. Her mouthpiece almost fell out of her slack mouth and she managed, only just, to grab hold of it again. Eventually the girl moved closer, eyes roving first over Xions equipment, before focusing on her face. As the mermaid extended her arms to reach for Xions face, she noticed that her fingers were tipped with pointy claws. Xion lurched back again, which made the mermaid stop and frown, her mouth falling open slightly in displeasure, revealing needle like teeth. 

Cursing the stories that made mermaids out to be dainty women that couldn’t hurt a guppy, Xion desperately tried to think of how to get out of this situation. Behind her were the walls of sharp coral, before her the mermaid with teeth and claws that looked equally as capable of cutting her into pieces as the reef behind her. Xion didn’t believe for a second that she could outswim the mermaid, even if she tried heading for the surface. She threw her head around looking for anything that could help her out. But then she felt the hose of her regulator getting caught and before she knew it she was surrounded by a myriad of air bubbles racing each other to the surface. The next moment water streamed into her mouth before she could close it to preserve the last lungful of air she had left. Reflexively she tried coughing up the water, which only made things worse, as there was no fresh air following after, only more water that forced its way into her lungs. Xion could already feel her throat burning and her vision swam when she could pry her eyes open for a second, before being wracked by another useless cough.

She felt two hands grab beneath her arms and pull. In what direction Xion couldn’t tell, the restricting pressure of the water enveloping her from all sides. At least she would drown instead of being ripped to shreds, Xion mused before all thought left her.

Xion abruptly sputtered back into consciousness, dispelling bouts of salt water from her lungs in a violent coughing fit. Once she calmed down again, throat sore like someone had grated sandpaper across it, she noticed the gentle waves lapping at her feet and when she looked up she came, for the second time that day, face to face with the mermaid.

Even out of the water the mermaids hair seemed to float about her head in a weightless manner. She looked much more human out of the water, her skin rosy from the sun lighting it, thought Xion. However just as she had come to that realisation, the mermaid seemed to startle after having before been frozen in surprise. At least that was the impression Xion got, from her expression composed of wide eyes and an open mouth, which she caught a glimpse of before the mermaid turned around abruptly and dove for the ocean waves.

“Wait!”, Xion called out but the mermaid had already dove beneath the waves with only a single flick of her powerful tail that cast off droplets of rainbow as it vanished into the water. All Xion could do was watch hand outstretched as the creature, who had just saved her life, left without as much as a thank you.

Her hand hovered in the air for a moment bevor slowly falling into her lap. She still couldn’t believe the events that just transpired. She had met a mermaid. A beautifully terrifying mermaid, who had saved her instead of devouring her for breakfast, or lunch technically, going by the sun. Forgotten was the Duskfallfish, her mind churning with that magical encounter.

Xion spent a while sitting on the sandbank, that the mermaid had dropped her on, partly in hope that she would return. Only when the water started to turn golden and red from the sun preparing to dip its face into the ocean, did she pick herself up and started heading for the shore line that was visible on the horizon.

However the whole way back and even after she had headed off to bed her mind kept wandering back to the mermaid. She felt regret about not being able to thank her saviour properly, or talk to her at all. Her mind was swarming with questions. Where there more? Why wasn’t it common knowledge that they existed? Why had she saved her? What was her name? And the one that kept coming back again and again, would she ever see her again?

It took a good long while for Xion to fall asleep that night and when she finally did she dreamed of glittering scales reflecting light like pearls and painting rainbows into the air. When she awoke next her chest was crushed by an intense longing, for what she wasn’t sure. But she resolved herself to returning to the trench again, in hopes of seeing the mermaid once more and abating that vice that had closed around her chest.

So she headed out that same day with swimming gear and camera at the ready. No longer on the hunt for an endangered fish instead looking to find her saviour again and at the very least thank her for the rescue.


	2. A Stormy Reunion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I actually did it and wrote a second chapter for this!  
Thank you to EnbyWriter who left such a nice and motivating comment on the first chapter, which finally got me to sit down and write this chapter.  
Fair warning this isn't betaed at all, so probably ripe with errors.  
Also again if the thought of being completely surrounded by water and the possibility of drowning makes you uncomfortable in any way, be carefull because this chapter also includes that to some extend.  
Anyone else please enjoy!

Xion had returned to the trench day after day, getting more and more disheartened each time she came back home, without even so much as catching a glimpse of pearlescent scales. She had wondered at one point, if maybe she had only imagined the mermaid after all, if she had been a hallucination born from asphyxiation after she had ripped her regulator hose. However she shook those doubts off, if not for the mermaid she wouldn’t have survived the whole thing, never mind that it had been the sighting of her that startled Xion into ripping her equipment in the first place.

So she prevailed, sinking down into the depths of the coral reef every day, clinging to the faint hope of seeing the mermaid again. All of her free time was now spent underwater as she searched the narrow trenches of the underwater world for even the smallest hint about the mermaid. But her desperation grew with each day that passed without any new revelations. With that desperation came a certain carelessness. Like ignoring the weather forecast and then the fisherman that saw her heading out with her diving gear, warning her that the waters would change temperament before the day was over.

So that’s how she found herself in her current predicament, namely being tossed about by angry torrents. Xion wasn’t quite sure if she should be thankful, that the storm hadn’t caught her while she was down in one of the trenches. Maybe down there the water was calmer, with the howling winds that whipped it into a frenzy so much further away.

By now Xion had lost any and all orientation, being hurled around carelessly by the tides. She had no idea which way was up, and any light that might have come down from the surface was swallowed by the pitch black murkiness that the usually pristine and crystal clear ocean had become.

She really had gotten herself into trouble this time. While her diving gear was still holding up and keeping her from drowning, it was a small miracle that she hadn’t been thrown against some coral yet where it got tangled and torn. Furthermore there was no way of knowing if her air supply would outlast the oceans temper tantrum. If she ran out before the storm had calmed down, she’d simply drown anyway. Any attempt she made to get her bearings and head towards a certain direction, in hopes of maybe finding her bearings, were brutally dashed by the next powerful current throwing her upside down, or maybe right side up, there was no way of telling at this point.

There was a constant stream of thoughts going through Xions head, fiercely admonishing herself for being such a reckless idiot and not heeding the several warnings she had gotten. However as she was just starting to think it served her well and truly right to be in this mess for ignoring the hints that the world had thrown at her, she caught a glimmer of light at the corner of her eye.

She spun around as well as she was able, which wasn’t well at all, given her disorientation and general dizziness, but before she could catch sight of whatever it had been again, she felt something firmly grasping her. As she looked down at herself she saw a pair of arms stretch slender and pale across her middle. Xion tried to turn her head around but couldn’t quite manage to do so with all of her equipment getting in the way. However she noticed that whoever had grasped her was moving them through the mayhem of currents at an even speed. At this point her relief at being freed from the violent indifference of the ocean took over, replacing the adrenalin that had been cursing through her with drowsiness.

Xion couldn’t tell how long the pale arms carried her through the turbulent sea, time being just as lost on her as direction, but eventually she felt the grasp of gravity taking hold of her again and the deafening rush of water being replaced by splashing and the crunching of sand underneath her, as she was hauled up onto solid ground.

For a while she just lay there staring at a grey sky, wondering why there wasn’t any wind tugging at her hair and brushing over her rapidly cooling skin, until she realized that she was actually staring up at a stone ceiling. Upon that realization she struggled to sit up, her equipment weighing heavily on her exhausted body.

She found herself in an enclosed cavern and the only reason she could actually tell as much was because the plants that covered the walls in small clusters were giving off a dim turquois light. They weren’t something Xion had ever seen, but they weren’t the only light source as Xion noticed a second later.

A heart shaped face watched her from the small basin at her feet, which had to be connected to the ocean, Xion figured. A face Xion recognized. Similar to their first encounter the face of the mermaid looked pallid, almost eerie with how the light from the plants bounced off of it. Underneath the water surface however another glow emanated from the scales on the lower half of the mermaids body, this one ever changing in hue impossible to pin down to a single colour, thus proofing Xions musing from their first encounter right. The mermaid herself was to some extent luminescent.

Xion couldn’t tell how long their gazes stayed locked, just staring at each other, as if the slightest movement would startle the other and break the moment that seemed fragile like a beautiful piece of blown glass.

The moment was finally broken when Xions mouthpiece slipped free from her slack jaw, it tumbled into her lap unnoticed, Xions gaze still affixed to the mermaid, who had startled with the sudden movement. However she hadn’t left yet, just ducked a little deeper into the water.

“Please stay.” Her voice sounded incredibly faint even to her own ears, softened by the fear of the mermaid leaving like last time. The mermaids eyebrows raised in what Xion would guess was surprise, however she couldn’t be sure, as everything beneath the mermaids eyes was submerged in the water.

“I won’t hurt you”, Xion promised, while taking her diving goggles off leaving them to dangle around her neck. Which elicited a small burst of bubbles to rise to the surface by the mermaids face, before the rest of her face followed. The expression on her face seemed to sway between surprised and amused, settling on amused as she began to glide closer through the water.

“I thought you might be scared of me.” Xions heart almost stopped, as the mermaid spoke to her for the very first time. Her voice was soft an melodious, and Xion suddenly had no hard time believing all those stories of people drowning themselves after listening to a mermaid sing. The mermaid stopped her approach a foot from Xion, face propped up on a hand and her tail still within the water. “After all you startled quite terribly the last time you saw me.” She cast her eyes downward as she said it and Xion watched in fascination as her pale eyelashes fluttered over her cheeks. Why did she even have eyelashes? Were they even of any use underwater?

“W-well”, Xion started to stutter out, after a beat of silence that lasted too long to be anything but awkward, “you surprised me.”

“I’m sorry about that.” A finger of her unoccupied hand had started to swirl patterns into the sand underneath her. “I hadn’t meant to. Especially because it made you rip the thingy that makes you breath underwater.”

Xion watched for a moment, mesmerized by the curling patterns created by the mermaid. She still hadn’t looked up from the sand, keeping her focus there. The way her shoulders curled upwards made Xion realize that that might be out of nervousness. “It was an accident really!” She tried to reassure the mermaid. “As much my fault as it was yours, if it was anyone’s fault at all.”

The mermaids shoulders unfurled and Xion felt relief settle inside of her, as the mermaid finally looked up again and met Xions eyes again. “I’m glad you’re not mad at me. I got really worried that you were when you kept coming back and searched around the trench.”

Xion held up her hands defensively shaking her head urgently. “No! No, no, not in the slightest. I actually kept coming back because I wanted to thank you for fishing me out.”

Surprise filled ocean blue eyes. “Even though I was the one who caused you to almost drown in the first place?”

Xion nodded fervently. “Yes! Definitely!” She paused for a moment before embarrassedly adding. “And now you’ve actually saved my live twice. So I really ought to get onto saying thank you for saving me. If there’s anything I could do to make it up to you, just say so!”

A crinkle stole onto the mermaids brow. “That”, she paused shortly, choosing her next words carefully, ”hardly seems fair, especially considering, I technically also was the reason why you needed rescuing this time around.”

“That really wasn’t your fault!”, grumbled Xion. “It was my own ignorance of perfectly visible warnings that got me in trouble today. Even though I can’t say that it didn’t work out.” A small grin had stolen its way across Xions face.

Something in that statement made the mermaid chuckle in amusement, which made Xions chest swell with pride at eliciting such a delightful sound. “Is that something that happens often? You getting into trouble, because I think it might, considering we’ve only met twice so far and I had to save you on both occasions.”

The grin on Xions face spread into a wider smile, thrilled that the mermaid seemed to have warmed up to her, considering she apparently felt comfortable with teasing her. “Have you thought about the possibility that it is your involvement that leads to my rash decisions?”

“It has crossed my mind”, the mermaid admitted, “however I think your rashness is just an extension of your stubbornness.”

“Stubborn? Me?”, asked Xion incredulously, not that it wasn’t true, she just thought it wasn’t as blatantly obvious to someone who’s only just met her as it apparently was.

“Yes, I think you’re stubborn by nature. When I first saw you, you wouldn’t just leave the garbage bag where it was, even though it proved so difficult to remove. And then you came back each day to look for me without giving up, even though it went against your better judgment”, the mermaid nodded sagely, seemingly quite proud of her reasoning.

Xion had to admit she had a point, as embarrassed as she was about it. “I guess”, she conceded hesitantly. “But it worked, there’s no denying that!” The grin came back to her face as she puffed out her chest confidently.

“That it has”, the mermaid agreed, smiling up at her. “So did you really only want to say thank you?” She tilted her head to the side, her hair billowing around gently.

“Well mostly yeah”, Xion said contemplative scratching at the back of her head, before continuing on. “That was the most important part, but honestly I was also just very curious. Mermaids are just a myth nowadays, so I was quite surprised to actually see one and then all this other questions popped up. How do you live and where? How hasn’t anyone found you yet? Or if they have, how is it that it’s not known that mermaids exist? Actually, are there more, or is it only you?” Animated gestures of her hands and arms had started to accompany her frenzy of questions, before suddenly stopping as Xion came to a realization. “And what I almost forgot, which really should have been the first question, what’s your name?”

The mermaid blinked at her a few times, apparently taken aback a little at the volley of questions. “It’s Naminé”, she finally answered.

“Naminé”, Xion tested the name out. A smile stole on her face while she did. “It’s a really pretty name.” Fascinated she watched, as Naminés face coloured a faint pink, at once looking a lot livelier, now that the almost white hue had made space for the blush.

Naminé cast her eyes down again, her finger continuing the swirling patterns from before. She probably wasn’t used to compliments like this, Xion mused. “Thank you. I imagine your name is most certainly also very pretty, even though you haven’t told me yet.”

Xions hand made a dull noise as it connected to her forehead. She knew her manners were absolutely abysmal but this was a new low even for her. “Xion, sorry I totally forgot to introduce myself along the way.”

A small giggle escaped Naminés mouth at Xions antics. “I was right then; Xion is a very pretty name indeed.” Her heart made a short stumble, as Naminé said her name in that soft voice of hers. Xion had to swallow, her mouth suddenly dry, as she felt the tell-tale warmth of a blush now creeping up her own face.

“Naminé is way prettier”, was the only thing she could think of saying.

Which made the mermaids brow crinkle again as she levelled Xion with a disgruntled look. “It’s not.”

“It is”, Xion persisted, biting her lip.

Naminé pushed herself up higher with her hands, now almost even with Xions face. “Is not.”

“Is too”, Xion managed to press out before the smile and consequent laughter broke free. The perplexed face of Naminé made her laugh even harder, even though it did also make her feel bad after a bit. “I can’t believe I’m arguing over names with a mermaid”, she tried to explain and hopefully clear up, that she wasn’t laughing at Naminé.

Naminé continued to pout for a moment longer before snorting in amusement. “I guess it is a bit of a silly topic. And not one very well suited for waiting out the storm, considering how repetitive it gets.”

“That’s true”, Xion admitted. “How about you tell me about yourself instead? That ought to pass the time.”

Naminé for a moment contemplated that suggestion with a tilted head. “Only if you tell me about yourself in turn.”

“Deal!”, Xion agreed all to happily. 

From this point onwards time flew and Xion almost felt sad when Naminé suddenly turned her head hours later and noted that the ocean had calmed down now. Reluctantly she let Naminé accompany her out of the little sea cave and back towards the shore. They stopped just behind a little outcropping of rocks, which concealed them from view, should anyone already be out on the beach again.

“So this is goodbye”, Xion paused a second before adding hopefully, “for now.”

A smile bloomed across Naminés face lifting the pressure that had engulfed Xions ribcage on the way back. “I’d like to meet again. Just please don’t nearly drown again.”

This startled a laugh out of Xion. “If that’s what it takes to get you to show up, I’m not making any promises.”

Hastily Naminé raised her arms defensively. “No, I promise no drowning necessary! I’ll come out on my own when I see you around the reef.”

“Great!” Her smile almost splitting her face, Xion gave into the sudden impulse to hug her new friend. Naminé felt really fragile in her grasp, even though that probably was a false assumption, considering she had no trouble withstanding the violent currents of an enraged ocean. “Can’t wait to see you again”, she said as she pulled away again, rubbing her nose briefly where Naminés hair had brushed against it and tickled her.

Naminé had a surprised look on her face that slowly morphed into a beautiful smile, making the edges of her eyes crinkle. “Me too”, she said softly. The expression and tone of her voice left Xion staring dumbly for a second, completely captivated by the beautiful sight in front of her. The sun was setting at this point, casting its rosy light on Naminés skin and the reflection of it glowing in her pale eyes, her hair like a halo of fire surrounding her head.

“See you!” And with a last wave Naminé was gone again, only the shadow of her silhouette, moving swiftly beneath the water, hinting at her existence.

It took Xion another minute before she came out of her stupor and get moving towards the shore again. The whole way home her face was adorned by the biggest smile imaginable.


End file.
